Social media is the new frontier in marketing and customer support. It offers unprecedented ways to reach new customers and enrich existing customer relationships. Here are some tips specifically on using Facebook for business:

Offer a special deal to Facebook fans.
Show your appreciation to people who “Like” your page by offering a coupon or special deal. When people “Like” your page it shows up on their wall and all their friends can see it.

Post behind-the-scenes content.
Social media fans like to be considered insiders. Post behind-the-scenes photos, or comments about the business and staff they wouldn’t see through your normal marketing.

Invite clients to post content.
Your Facebook fans are probably your best and most loyal customers. Let them post photos of your product in use, or success stories of how your product/service helped them. Let them be cheerleaders for your product.

Offer industry news.
Don’t just post about your products. Post information about you industry that will be of value to your clients. You don’t have to say good things about your competitors, just about industry trends and news.

Drive traffic to your website.
Always cross post your website news and blog posts on your Facebook page. Include the title and short teaser with a link back to your site.

Be shareable and likeable.
Be interesting and fun. Try to generate content that your fans will want to share, or “Like” or comment on. Shared content reaches an entirely new audience beyond your original fan base.

Link to your other content.
Make sure you link to your other content – your website, your youtube videos, your blog. People may discover you through Facebook and need to know what else is available.

Be ready to respond to issues.
Social media is social. It’s possible that a customer will bring up a complaint or service issue and post it on your page. Be ready to quickly and publicly respond to these. Most people don’t expect you to be perfect, but if you play in the social media area you have to be willing to respond to direct issues.

Capture social contacts for traditional marketing.
Use social media to build your traditional mailing lists. Add links to allow people to subscribe to your email list, or mailing list, or order a catalog.

Most Important: Be a consultant and friend, not a salesperson.
Social media is the wrong place for hard-sell pitches or annoyingly repetitive advertising promotion. People will quickly un-Like you if you spam them with advertising via social media. Be a friend, be an expert, be a consultant, but don’t flood your page with hard-sell promotions if you want to succeed.

Good News: Facebook is rolling out the Timeline view to Facebook Fan Pages. It has new features and some great marketing potential for businesses.

Bad News: the rollout happens at the end of March whether you like it or not. All existing fan pages will be updated, you will not have the option to opt out.

New Changes:

1. The new design includes a large banner image (called a cover photo) like your personal Facebook timeline view.

2. Private messages are now allowed between business pages and other Facebook users.

3. Default landing pages are gone. You used to be able to setup a specific page that would be seen by people who haven’t “Liked” you yet. That is gone. All visitors land on your Timeline page.

4. Application tabs have been moved from the side into icons directly under the banner. Only 4 show by default, but they are much more visible than before. Plus you can set images on the icons to make them more noticeable.

5. You can now create featured content. You can mark content as featured, giving it more space on the Timeline, and/or you can pin a post to make it stay on top. (often called sticky posts)

6. Application page widths have been expanded.

If you have a customized Facebook page you will need to verify that everything works on the Timeline view. Regardless you will need to create a new cover photo and organize your application icons. All these features are great for businesses marketing through Facebook, but the March 30 deadline make it imperative you make the changes immediately.

Contact Main Street if you need help updating your Facebook page.

1. Improve your search engine rankings.
Written content is still king on the internet. When you write blog posts on your subject you are creating new content for search engines that is rich in keywords. When you do it regularly, the search engines will notice and will update your rankings quicker. When people comment on your posts, or link to your posts, the search engines notice and add value to your keywords. The best long term strategy for search engine optimization is to have an active blog on your keyword subject.

2. Expand your markets.
You may be locally famous. Your family may have owned the best store in town for several generations, but nobody outside your local area probably knows. The internet lets you reach the whole English-speaking world for the same price as reaching your local zip code. When you write blog posts on your tips for raising roses, or your advice for first-time home buyers, it can be seen by anyone. A blog lets you develop a following way outside your local area.

3. Make an educational sales presentation.
If you sell snow-cones in Texas in August you probably don’t need a blog. It’s hot, they buy, business is easy. But if your product or service requires more education and explanation before they pay, then a blog is an excellent low-pressure way to educate your prospects. Your blog lets you explain what they should look for in a vendor or product. You can tell success stories of clients who chose wisely, and horror stories of those who paid too little — or too much. Your blog becomes your low-pressure, always available pre-sales consultant.